Hurlers have much to prove

Date Published: 12-Jul-2007

IF one was to judge by the prevailing mood in the county right now, Antrim might as well do us all a favour by beating Galway at Pearse Stadium on Saturday (3PM) to avoid an embarrassing All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Kilkenny next time out.

It’s extraordinary the extent to which the optimism which greeted Ger Loughnane’s appointment as Galway manager has evaporated in the wake of the disappointing performances against Laois and Clare.

His public pronouncements that he is prepared to walk away have hardly boosted the fragile confidence of the Galway players — and airing dirty laundry in public has only added to the pain of the Ennis defeat for everyone involved.

“There’s every possibility that Antrim could do one over us, especially if we play with anything resembling the style and the approach we displayed against Laois and against Clare,” said the manager.

“Obviously, the fault has to rest with me as well. Maybe it needs somebody else to get the message through. I don’t know, but I’ll be making a decision after next Saturday. If I see that again, there’s not a hope that I’ll hang around. It would be counter-productive.”

Still, a defeat at home to Antrim would be unthinkable. Galway have never lost to the Saffrons in the championship and their most recent meeting, a 3-25 to 0-12 win at the Stadium in mid-February, was supposed to herald the start of a glorious new era.

Of course, Antrim shocked Galway with a one point win in the corresponding NHL game in Belfast a year earlier, but they should not be in the same class as the Tribesmen.

They had ten points to spare over Laois last weekend, recovering from a poor start to win by 1-23 to 1-13, but Laois had a man sent off early in the second half of that game.

And while Antrim pushed Clare to the limit a fortnight ago, before losing by 3-21 to 2-15 thanks to a late flurry from the Banner, let’s not forget that four Clare players were suspended following the ‘Semplegate’ affair.

Midfielders Karl McKeegan and Brendan Herron are class performers and, given Galway’s woes in this sector so far, the starting line-up of the maroon midfielders will be of huge concern to the home fans.

Wing back Ciaran Herron, wing forward Michael Herron, Johnny McIntosh, and Paddy McGill should be well able to punish Galway if they get chances to make an impression on the scoreboard.

“We want to go there and take a step further,” said joint Antrim manager Terence McNaughton. “We have got to start competing with every team we meet.”

Loughnane and his selectors have delayed naming their team until late in the week, with Mark Kerins and Fergal Healy both expected to be available.

“Next Saturday will tell an awful lot, whether there is any character whatsoever in this team,”said Loughnane. “If you are a player on this team and you came in after a performance like that (against Clare) and you put on a Galway jersey next Saturday, wouldn’t you have a lot to prove?”